Snap-hook.



J. B. BAXTER.

SNAP HOOK. APPLICATION FILED DEC- 20. iSIO.

Patented Apn'fi, 19 15.

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THE NORRIS PETERS CO" PHOTO-LITHO, WASHINGTON, D C.

Nrrn SAT PAENT Wren.

JOHN B. BAXTER, OF WATERVLIET, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR. T0 COVERT MANUFAC- TURING COMPANY, OF WATERVLIET, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SNAP-HOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

Application filed December 20, 1910. Serial N 0. 598,347.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. BAXTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVatervliet, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Snap- Hooks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

The present invention relates to snap hooks and has especial reference to snap hooks of the type employing a hook member proper and a pivoted tongue or latch.

The primary object of the invention is to provide in a hook of the character suggested a novel form of tongue or latch and cooperating spring member for normally holding the tongue in retaining or looking position.

The invention also includes a novel form of bearing for the bend of the spring, which conveniently takes a U-shaped form, which said bearing is positioned adjacent the pivotal bearing for the tongue, thereby rendering the hook more efficient in operation, and making the invention equally applicable to long and short hooks.

Further, the invention includes means whereby the several parts of the hook may be more readily assembled and separated than is possible with similar hooks of prior construction.

Also, the invention contemplates a tongue or latch for the hook constructed and arranged to constitute the support and carrying medium as well as the bearing for the spring.

More particularly the invention comprises a hook, a pivoted latch or tongue for the latter, and an interposed spring mounted on the tongue, and said parts being constructed and arranged whereby both the tongue and spring may be applied to, and removed from, the hook proper, together, or as a single unit.

Finally, the invention comprises a snap hook, simple in construction, cheap to manufacture, durable and efficient in operation, and the parts of which may be readily assembled and detached as desired.

The various details in the construction and arrangement of the several parts of the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the description to follow, which for a clear understanding, should be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and wherein for the purpose of illustration convenient embodiments of the invention are disclosed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of the snap hook, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the body portion of the hook, Figs. 4:, 4 and 5 are views of different forms of tongue members for the hooks, Figs. 6 and 7 are bottom and longitudinal sectional views of modified forms of hooks, Fig. 8 is a transverse section on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Again referring to the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the various views, 1 is a body portion of the hook gradually tapering toward its forward end and terminating at said forward end in a return curved portion 2 constituting the hook proper. The opposite end of the body portion 1 conveniently terminates in a loop member 3 for connection with a ring or other attaching device and the forward wall of the loop is conveniently raised above the inner surface of the body portion 1 so as to constitute a rib or shoulder 3 as will be clear from the drawings. Arranged forwardly of said shoulder 3 is a transversely extending slot or opening 4 in the body part adapted for the passage and reception of the projecting tail or lip at the rear end of the tongue member proper to be described. I

The tongue member of the hook may take various forms as will be obvious. In that embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 the same is preferably formed of a single sheet of metal shaped to provide a body portion 5 and downwardly projecting ears 6 at the forward end thereof adapted when the tongue is in position to overlie the sides of the body portion 1, and the upper surface of the free end of the tongue being adapted to seat within a recess 2 in the under surface of the hook member 2. The rear end of the tongue member has an upright off set part 7 adapted to rest upon the body portion of the hook, and which said upright portion conveniently projects above the upper edge of the shoulder 3 The upright portion 7 of the tongue is of a width in excess of the length of the slot or opening a in the body portion so as to overlie the wall at the ends of said slot, as is clear from the drawing.

Projecting downwardly from the upright off v is wound about said Wall 9 it will lie Within the recess formed by the reduced thickness of said wall. The tongue member conveniently has a plurality of openings 11 and 12 adjacent the rear end thereof and forming therebetween a bearing 13 for the bend of the spring.

The spring is preferably substantially U shaped, the same being adapted to be threaded through the openings 11 and 12 of the I tongue whereby the bend thereof will engage about the bearing 13 of the tongue, and the upper arm 14 ofwhich spring is elongated and adapted to bear against the inner surface of the tongue member, at a point between the side ears 6 of the latter which may be said to constitute a pocket or housing for said arm of the spring. The opposite end or heel of the spring 15 has an offset terminal 16 adapted to engage behind a shoulder 17 and engage within a recess 18 in the body portion 1 of the hook, Conveniently the body portion of the hook has a longitudinally extending recess or opening 19, of a width slightly greater than the width of the heel 15 of the spring and extending from the slot or opening 4 to the shoulder 17. The said recess 19 constitutes a pocket in which the heel of the spring rests when in position thereby preventing undue lateral play of the spring, and spacing the heel of the spring below the upper surface of the body portion of the hook; The said recess also asists in the assembling of the parts.

In the type of hook illustrated in Fig. 5 the parts are quite similar to the parts just described, but in this embodiment of the invention it will be observed that the hearing or support on the tongue for the bend of the spring, which bearing is indicated by the numeral 20, is formed by providing a slot or opening 21 in the tongue and a slot 22 in the end of the tongue leaving the f'urcations or lips 22 adapted to be bent around the bearing 26 of the hook. It will be noted that the spring is readily applicable to this type of tongue by passing the elongated arm of the spring through the opening 21, when the heel of the spring will rest between the separated arms 22 of the tail of the tongue.

In either type of hook above described, it will be noted that the assembling of the parts is readily accomplishedinthe following manner. It being assumed that the tongue has been shaped .to form the. ears 16 and upright end 7, with the openings in the end of the tongue for the receptionof the spring, the operator places the spring in position upon the tongue, when these parts may be said to constitute a unit. The operator then takes these assembled parts and hind the shoulder 17 and within the recess 18 of the body portionof the hook, and the lip or lips of the tongue which have been passed through the slot or opening 1 will be bent around the bearings aiforded by the inner wall of said slot or opening 4. To detach the parts it is only necessary to slightly rebend the tail or lip of the tongue, when the tongue with the connected spring may pie rleadily lifted out of engagement with the In the embodiment of the invention illus-v tratedin Figs. 6 and 7 it will be noted that the tongue is somewhat similar in constructionto that form of tongue illustrated'in Fig. 5, but in this type of device, the body portion of the hook member, indicated in this figure by the numeral 24 is provided on its under surface with a recess 25 extending to a point rearwardly of the shoulder 3 and in which saidrecess is a shoulder 26. The lips 27 of the tongue in this embodiment of the invention are bent rearwardly whereby in the operation of the tongue, the shoulder 26 constitutes a fulcrum or bearing around which the tail or lip of the tongue plays. The parts of this form of hook are readily assembled and separated, as has been explained with regard to the aforementioned embodiments, except that when in position on. the hook member proper the tail or lips of the tongue are bent rearwardly about the shoulder26, instead of forwardly about the bearing 9 afi'orded by the wall of the recess 4:.

An important feature of the invention resides in constituting the tongue as the support or carrying member for the bend of the spring, thereby doing away with any additional bearing on the hook for the bend of prevent rubbing or binding contact of the spring against the wall of said shoulder 3 in the operation of the tongue. Substantially the same results may be accomplished by reducing the thickness of the bearing member on the tongue for the bend of the spring, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

As illustrated in Fig. 4*, the bar 13 of the lip of the tongue may be free from connection at one end, whereby in the application of the spring said bar may be forced outwardly to facilitate the insertion of the spring and afterward forced back into looking position.

What I claim is:

1. In a snap hook, the combination of a body part having an eye at one end and an opening therethrough forwardly of the eye and a hook at the opposite end of the body part overlying the same, a single piece tongue adapted at its free end to engage and close the hook and at its opposite end having a fiat tail piece, one surface of which is bent around one wall of the opening in the body part to form a loose relatively wide pivotal bearing, and said tongue having two transverse openings therethrough adjacent said tail piece forming an integral relatively narrow bearing bar, a substantially U- shaped spring, the opposite arms of which project inward through said openings with the bend thereof loosely engaging the outer surface of the bearing part of the tongue, and the arms of the spring engaging, one the body part and the other the hook part.

2. In a snap hook, the combination of a body portion having a hook at one end and a slot therein adjacent its opposite end, a sheet metal tongue struck up to form side ears adjacent its forward end, and a projecting tail at its rear end adapted to pass through said slot in the body portion of the hook, said tail being relatively wide and bent around the wall of said slot, the bent portion of the tongue having cut out portions forming therebetween a bearing bar integral with the tongue, a spring loosely mounted at its bend upon the bearing bar and adapted to engage the body portion of the hook to normally retain the tongue in looking engagement with the hook, and the said bearing bar constituting the only support for the spring intermediate its ends.

3. A snap hook comprising a hook part proper, a movable tongue to close the same, a substantially U-shaped spring to actuate the tongue, the tongue having an opening extending through its body part through which opening one arm of the spring passes, and an auxiliary opening adapted for the reception of the other arm of the spring, that portion of the tongue intermediate said openings constituting a loose supporting bar or bearing for the bend of the spring.

4. In a snap hook, the combination of a body portion and a hook, the body portion having an integral bearing part, a tongue having an integral bendable lip engaging about said bearing part, said tongue having a plurality of openings in its bendable lip constituting therebetween a bearing member, and a substantially U-shaped spring loosely mounted upon said bearing member whereby its respective arms pass through the adjacent openings of the tongue to bear against the body portion of the hook and tongue respectively.

5. In a snap hook, a body part having a hook at one end and a transversely extending slot adjacent the opposite end thereof, a tongue adapted to engage at its forward end the hook and having a downwardly projecting part adjacent the rear end thereof, said downwardly projecting part having a relatively wide bearing surface adapted for pivotal connection with the hook part and having transversely extending openings extending therethrough forming therebetween a support and bearing bar, and a substantially U-shaped spring mounted at its bend upon said bar, with one arm of the spring engaging the tongue and the other the hook part, the spring being otherwise unconnected with the tongue and hook part.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN B. BAXTER.

WVitnesses:

CHARLEY PAYNE, Lnwrs C. KNIGHT.

Copies of this patent may "be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

